Life-preserving suit.



W. J. KARBAN.

LIFE PRESERVING SUIT. APPLICATION FILED MAR, 12, 1914,

' Patented Feb. 9, 1915 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

ATTORNEYS W, J. KARBAN.

LIFE PRESERVING SUIT.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 12, 1914.

Patented Feb. 9, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

ATTORNEYS LETLE-EBESEHVIHG SUIT.

t eclficetion of letters Eetent.

hpplication riled Hersh 12, 1914. {Sezial Filo. 226M323.

mic-morn a citizen of the United liter-es, and a. resident of Bryant inthe county of Langlade and State of Wisconsin, have mode on Impro ementin Life-Preserving ignite, of wh ch the following is a specification.

My invention is e suitinede of waterproof material and adapted tocompletely inclose the head and body of a person.

The feetnres'ol novelty are the construction of the mouth-piece and itsside attachments controlling the admission of air to support respirationand of means for clamping and tightly closing the openings in the legsand crotch of the suit which opening is required to permit theapplication of the suit to a person.

The details'of construction, arrangement, and operation of parts are ashereinafter described, and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, inwhich v Figure .l is a face view of the suit applied to a. person; Fig.2 a perspective View of the mouth-piece and its side valved attachmentscontrolling admission of air; Fig. 3 is a persiiective View of theclamping hers employed for closing the opening in, the legs and. crotchoi the suit after the latter has been donned or emailed to a person asin Fig. 1; l igI Fis a sectional View illustrating one of the jointsbetween the clamping hers; F 5 is a cross section on the line ti --43 ofFig. 2.; Fig. '6 is o. -vertical section or the suit; Fig. 7 is avertical section of the month-piece and a portion of the headattachn'ient of the suit; Fig. 8 is a vertical section on the line 88 oi7; Fig. 9 is a vertical section on the line 9-9 of lg. 2; Fig. 10 aperspective View illus trating the attachment to the clamping bars of adevice for holding them in the closed position. Fig. 11 is a crosssection on the line 1l-1l of Fig. 10.

The entire suit is adapted to completely inclose a persorn as will beunderstood by reference to Figs. 1 and 6. It is made of waterproofcanvas, other suitable thin light material, and the head is providedwith a Window or glazed portion .hssshown in several figures; seeparticularly Fig. '2. I

In practice. it will he understood that a cushion will be inserted a thetop of the head portion. The moizth-piecei (see Figs. 2, 7 and 8) is asleek. preferably constructed of wood, and nrovided with 2. centralchainto allow the suit to be up;

her 3 having oneninge or its upper enol, and s n; lower end.

lend to, and cornnnn l with, the side airhoxes i; Fi s. Q, 5, and 3.latter are provided withv valves for controlling the admission of sir, iwill. T3 ently described.

ill:

near the upper end tl on opening 8 which co interior chamber 3. plied.to :1 person this or his mouth, and small car.

nose and chin, as will he understood by reference to Fig. 7. Air isdrawn. by SL161 tion into the chamber 3, and thus passes through theopening 8 and. into the month of the person wearing the suit. As will heunderstood by reference to 9, such air enters the lower end of theainooxes 7 and passes upward through the chamber 10 and tube 11 tochamber 12, as indicated by arrows. The lower end of the-air-hoxes isprovided with o Wireganze cover. A cork' valve "13 is arranged in thelower chamber 10 of s eh air hoxi, enclis adapted to seat upward againstthe lower end of the tube ill; hes, if Water reaches the valve it willraise the ralve so that it seats against the tube 11 and prevents Waterentering the chamber 12, and thus finding access to the moutlroiece 2.is case, however, water should accidentally find its way into thechamber 8 of the mouth-piece, it will escape downward throvgh thepassages 5. which, as shown in Fig. 8, are normally closed-by thin platespring valves 14. the slime being protected by a metal housing orcovering 15. lhe same means also provides for escape Within the suit ofWater of condensw tion which may be derived from. respiration.

The inner sides of the oi the suit and also the crotch are livi le l orseparated so as to form an opening: sizliieiently large filed to aperson by passing; over his head: It Will be understood that in practicethe suit will he ample in size to allow this to he conrei'iientiy iiolit is also advisable that the arms of lUt suit should be large andloose enough to permit the occupant-to Withdraw his hand and arm, ifdesired. It is of course requisite 'lter the suit has been donned, thatthe opening referred to shall be closed tightly to prevent admission ofwater. For this purpose I employ four clamping bars 16, he same beingconnected, in the way represented in Fig. 3, by means of flexiblejoints. See also Fig. 4. This'joint is preferably formed by means of anelastic medium 17, such as canvas, leather or rubber, and permits thepairs of bars to besjeparated and applied as required.

As will he understood with reference to Figs. 1, l0 and 11, the edges ofthe suit along the inner sides of the legs and in the crotch are broughttogether and clamped between bars 16, and then a spring fastening 18 isapplied to hold the bars tightly clamped trgether. Various fasteningsmay be employed for this purpose, and I do not desire to limit myself inthis particular. As shown in this instance, the fastening 18 is in thenature of a spring clasp adapted to embrace the sides of the two barswhen brought together, and the same is pivoted to one of the bars at 19as shown in Fig. 10, a spring 20 being also applied to assist in holdingthe fastening closed.

' It will be understood that, in practice,

the suit will be made .-of sufficient capacity to contain a considerablevolume of air which may serve to support the weight of the person in thewater; out as an additional means of safety in this particular, Ipurpose. to employa cork belt 21 applied under the arms,- as shown inFigs. 1. and 6,

and another ordinary belt 22' may be applied around the waist and hipsas shown.

What I claim is 1. The combination with a suit adapted to inclose aperson, of a mouth-piece arranged in the head portion of the same andhaving a central chamber, a lateral opening for respiration, sidepassages for admission of air, and valved. passages-in its lower portionfor permitting escape of water that may accumulate in the mouth-piece,as doscrihed,

2. A life-preserving suit composed of wit tor-proof material and adaptedto 'inclose the body of a person, the same being divided along the'innersides of the legs and in the crotch to form an opening facilitating theapplication of the suit to a person; clamping bars adapted to be appliedto the divided edges of the garment; and means for clamping them tightlyto form a watertight joint, as described.

3. The combination with a lite-preserving suit adapted to inclose theperson and having the legs and crotch divided as described; of two pairsof clamping bars, the

members of each pair being flexibly hinged together at one end and tothe members of the opposing pair at their opposite ends, and springfastenings adapted for application to the pairs of bars for clampingthem tightly upon the edges of the divided portions of the suit, asdescribed.

WENCEL J KARBAN.

Witnesses Joan Bsmsnm B. N. Rrnnnns.

